QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Date: November 20, 2023
Reference Request for Proposal Number: RFP-CATALYZE-217772-Ethiopia-2023-0135
Dear Offerors,
Please see below answers to the questions submitted to ethiopiams4g.procurement@thepalladiumgroup.com and
questions raised during the bidders’ conference conducted on November 20, 2023.
Question
No
Based on our experience over the past few years, MS4G
has not set a financial limit for the capital of the
companies the BASP supports. Some of the companies
1 that have supported it have capital in the range of
billions. However, a question was recently raised about a
particular company that was mobilizing more than 2
billion in turnover and had a capital of over 10 billion. We
would like to know if there is a limit to the support we
can provide.
In addition, MS4G has identified certain areas to address
in the RFP, apart from those a BASP will identify through
company diagnoses. As proposed, the BASP conducts
diagnoses to identify problematic areas and then
prioritizes these problems because it is not feasible to
address all issues simultaneously. We would appreciate
your guidance on this matter.
Following this, we develop an implementation plan.
However, when your program is incorporated, it can
sometimes add pressure and potentially interfere with
the operations of the enterprises. Some enterprises
might not require your service, so we need to consider
this aspect as well.
Answer
Previously when we provided BASP services, we had
a small room including big companies. But this time
we would prefer enterprises to be within the
category of micro, small, and medium enterprises.
In this RFP, we have tried to provide clues about
what type of services will be expected from the
BASPs. It will be up to BASP to choose which service
to provide. Generally, the type of service to be
provided by a particular BASP will depend on the
enterprise diagnosis result. We are not expecting the
BASPs to provide services if they are not identified
during enterprise diagnostics.
The new thing in this RFP is that the diagnostics
report will be presented to MS4G staff. Together
with the BASP, the enterprise prioritizes the support
services for identified challenges that need to be
addressed.
The most important point is that the support services
which are going to be provided should be directly
linked to their contribution in terms of achieving
sales growth targets. That means achieving 10% or
above sales/revenue growth for the first category of
enterprises and 15% or above for the second
category of enterprises.
In short, we will be focusing on the priority needs of
the enterprise, not on the whole types of services we
have listed.
2 In the RFP table, there are some top-up percentages The percentages mentioned in the capital
based on the loan approval and fund disbursement. Are mobilization are all-inclusive or integral parts of the
the percentages additional to the payments proposed for payment.
capital mobilization or are part of the total payments
planned for capital mobilization?

In other words, are these percentage payments

supplementary or integral to the plan for capital
disbursement?

When we refer to “capital mobilization,” does it pertain Capital mobilization includes loan, grant, and equity
3 solely to bank loans, or does it also encompass other financing.
options such as equity and grants?

4 In previous procurement processes, the Request for
Proposal (RFP) specified the number of enterprises that a
Business Advisory Service Provider (BASP) can support.
Does the current RFP also contain any conditions that
dictate the number of enterprises a BASP can support?
The maximum number of enterprises (MSMEs) to be
supported by a particular BASP will be decided
depending on the scope of work that the BASP will
be providing. The capacity of the BASP will be
considered as well.

5 5.1 How are we expected to determine the number of The number of MSMEs to be supported will be
MSMEs without knowing the extent of support we determined based on the scope of work of the
will be providing? specific assignment and the capacity of the service
provider.

5.2 What is the maximum number of SMEs to onboard by Depending on the scope of the assignment a BASP
a BASP? may support from 3 to 15 MSMEs.

The MSMEs to be served will generally be selected by

5.3 On what basis do we select clients, or will you assign
the BASP based on the criteria set by MS4G. The
clients/ Who selects the SMEs to be served? The
criteria are indicated in this RFP. MS4G, on a few
consultants or MS4G?
occasions, may recommend enterprises to the BASP.
However, the BASP should share the list of
enterprises selected to MS4G for approval.
5.4 At what point does the BASP obtain consent from the
SMEs for their inclusion in this program? Once the BASP signed an agreement with MS4G, the
BASP has the right to officially start discussing with
enterprises that the BASP would like to support.
Once an agreement is reached between the
enterprise and the BASP, the BASP should get the
consent of the enterprise in writing and should share
this document with MS4G.
5.5 Would MS4G provide a support letter to BASPs from
Tigray so that a BASP can present this letter to any MS4G believes that BASPs applying to this
government body when BASPs move around to talk assignment have all the necessary documents and
 to enterprises and get the necessary information for
their work?
6 Regarding capital mobilization, the deliverables and
payment schedules indicate that incentives of 1%, 2%,
and 3.5% of closed deals are to be paid. Additionally,
each category’s delivery and payment schedule table
includes a note specifying the maximum USD price per
enterprise that will be paid for the listed services. If the
percentage-based incentive exceeds the maximum USD
price per enterprise, which rate should be considered
acceptable for payment purposes?
7 7.1 Can a BASP consult smallholder farmers directly?
7.2 In the document, it is stated that the targets of MS4G
are enterprises and smallholder farmers. Is there any
relationship between them? Is there any capital
threshold to differentiate smallholder farmers and
enterprises?
7.3 Do you have target areas like zones/districts in war-
affected areas?
certificates to do their job including the right to talk
to potential clients and get the necessary
information to do their work. Hence, MS4G will not
write such a letter. However, selected BASPs may use
the Agreement that they have signed with MS4G as
an additional reference to contact MSMEs and
provide information to government agencies when
requested.
In this scenario, MS4G will consider the maximum
allowable fee for each category as the limit that the
service provider is entitled to.
This RFP includes forms of support that will be
provided to smallholder farmers and enterprises.
That is why we included the enterprises and
smallholder farmers as MS4G targets.
MS4G understands that there are some differences
and similarities between enterprises and smallholder
farmers. There are smallholder farmers or farm
enterprises which are similar to small businesses.
These farmers treat their farming activity as a
business. In addition to their engagement in
agricultural production, the farmers are active in
selling their produce and sometimes value addition.
We treat these farmers like any enterprise that we
are currently supporting. We have also experience in
providing business advisory services to farmers’
cooperatives.
There is no relationship between the enterprises we
are planning to support and the smallholder farms
we are targeting.
We will be applying similar criteria for the selection
of enterprises when we select farm enterprises.
Yes. For this RFP, the target geographies in the war-
affected area include the whole Tigray, North Wollo,
South Wollo, and Waghmra.
8 8.1 Under the specific objectives section of the RFP, it is
stated that MS4G will be providing support to
smallholder farmers. What kind of support is
expected to be provided for smallholder farmers?
8.2 Will these smallholder farmers' revenue growth be
measured as of those Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs)?
8.3 How do we evaluate their 10% and more revenue
growth?
9 9.1 Can we include farmers' cooperatives as enterprises
in the food security sector?
9.2 Can we address small dairy farmers in this project? Yes.
10 Sometimes banks might take longer to process/approve a Given the current regulatory situation the loan
loan, which could possibly be beyond the contractual
period. What can MS4G do to facilitate this?
11 11.1 Are there any specific services required from the
Business Advisory Service Provider (BASP), such as providing the agreed services to enterprises as
providing training or sharing experiences?
11.2 In the Request for Proposal (RFP), one of the
services that the BASP would offer to enterprises is
support in operations. Could you please elaborate on
what Operations support entails?
MS4G uses a variety of mechanisms to provide
direct and/or indirect support to smallholder
farmers.
Direct support: For farmers or farm enterprises
producing and selling cash crops such as coffee,
MS4G provides business development support
services using a similar package/modality to that of
MSMEs. MS4G has also another modality of
engagement with smallholder farmers directly. It is
called the Lead/Anchor firm model. MS4G provides
business advisory support to smallholder farmers,
cooperatives, and Agri-MSMEs supplying products to
the lead/anchor firm or buyer through BASPs.
Though the support might entirely depend on the
results of the assessments we will conduct, the
support may include technical and business skills
training, pre - and post-harvest management, market
linkage, creating access to finance, financial
management, and digitalization.
MS4G may also develop a separate term of reference
to some of these engagements for successful BASPs
with an interest in working in this area.
Yes.
approval process may take time. However, the
BASP should properly document the steps it is
taking to make the necessary adjustments.
The main task of the BASPs to be selected will be
specified in the agreement However, the RFP also
encourages the collaboration of MS4G and BASPs to
work jointly in areas of capacity building of BASPs,
experience sharing, etc. and to strengthen the
performance of other enterprise ecosystem actors.
As indicated in the RFP, operations support includes,
but is not limited to helping enterprises improve
operations by streamlining or automating processes,
reducing costs, and increasing efficiency to enable
sustainable enterprise growth.
12 Are we supposed to submit a financial proposal along
with the technical proposal?
What is the submission due date for the technical
proposal?
13 The Request for Proposal (RFP) permits both individuals • For individual offerors (consultants), a fixed-price
and firms to participate in the bidding process. Could you
clarify what type of contract will be issued for individuals signed with Palladium.
and at the firm level?
14 The RFP states that proposals are to be evaluated using a
best-value trade-off methodology. What does Best Value
Tradeoff (BVTO) mean?
15 The Request for Proposal (RFP) specifies that at least 50%
of the enterprises must be located outside of Addis
Ababa or in secondary cities. For the remaining 50%, can
we still consider enterprises located in Addis Ababa?
16 Shall we consider soap and detergent factories as WASH
product providers?
17 17.1 Is Joint venture application allowed?
17.2 EBASPA wants to participate in the bid, which will
also give an opportunity to involve BASPs within
the secondary cities. How do you see this
possibility?
Offerors are not expected to submit financial
proposals.
The due date for technical proposal submission is Dec
15, 2023.
Independent Consultant Agreement (ICA) will be
• For organizational offerors (businesses or firms), a
Firm Fixed Price subcontract will be signed between
the organization and MS4G.
For both contracts, there will be a ceiling amount to
be paid based on Pay-for-Performance (P4P) based
on the result achieved referring to the agreed
deliverables to be included in the contracts.
Best Value Tradeoff (BVTO) is a type of proposal
evaluation method that allows for trade-offs among
cost/price and non-cost factors.
It will give the flexibility to select the best
combination of technically superior, low-risk
proposals that also have a history of favorable past
performance.
Our focus is mostly outside of Addis Ababa. Hence
the offerors are advised to consider enterprises
outside of Addis Ababa in their proposal.
Yes.
Yes, joint venture application is allowed. Applicants
should be clear about who will sign the contracts,
receive payment, etc. if selected.
We understand that EBASPA is an association
established by BASPs. EBASPA could participate in
this bid if it has a mandate by law to provide business
development services to MSMEs.
MS4G encourages private sector BASPs to apply for
this bid when compared to NGOs' business advisory
service providers. However, NGOs could apply
 17.3 Are NGOs illegible or NGOs partnering with a
service provider to apply for this RFP?
18 Providing a business advisory service to smallholder
farmers is more challenging than providing the same
service to enterprises located in relatively urban areas.
Whereas the payment amount is the same. Please
explain.
19 Sales amount increment is going to be measured, is it
annual sales or monthly basis sales?
What is the document required to verify this sales
increment? Is it tax paid or an audit report by the
enterprises?
20 Are we supposed to state our plan for conflict-affected
areas although we are far from those areas, for instance, relationships with MSMEs to be supported. Hence,
we are in Jimma?
21 How can we set a benchmark for a 10% increase for
startup SMEs that entered the market in the current
fiscal year?
22 What should the details of the CVs and credentials of key The Technical Application Template has provided a
personnel, which are proposed to be attached as an
annex to the proposal, look like
23 Some businesses may already be receiving similar
services to the requirements in this RFP from other NGOs who are currently getting or have recently obtained
or MS4G. Is it permissible to include these SMEs in this support from other NGOs. The BASP should try to get
program?
provided that these NGOs have a unique business
advisory service to be provided to MSMEs that is
rarely provided by private sector BASPs.
MS4G’s proposed prices for services have taken into
consideration the challenges BASPs might face and
its cost implication when working with farm
enterprises based in rural areas. We also assume that
BASPs will follow innovative approaches that help
them to reduce costs without compromising the
quality of the service.
The sales amount increments to be measured are the
annual sales of the enterprise under consideration.
The documents required to verify this result include
the enterprise’s financial, cash flow, and balance
sheet statements. MS4G may also request other
documents such as enterprise audit if necessary.
More details will be provided on this during the
agreement signing phase.
This assignment requires establishing strong
BASPs are expected to contact client MSMEs from
conflict-affected areas physically and through other
appropriate mechanisms. This implies that BASPs
should travel to those areas to collect the necessary
business information. It will be up to the BASP (from
Jimma) to decide if this engagement may be
relatively expensive when compared with the costs
to be incurred by BASPs based in or near conflict-
affected areas.
MS4G does not usually work with startups unless
under special circumstances or there is a need from
our client. In that case, we may use the experience of
similar firms that are already in the business to set an
approximate baseline for the new firm, or we may
come up with a new sales target for startups.
limited space to provide information on the technical
expertise of BASPs. As already explained during the
bidders’ conference, BASPs may attach as an annex
the CVs of key personnel with only the most relevant
(summarized) information.
Care should be taken when working with MSMEs
as detailed information as possible about the type of

24 24.1 Is VAT Mandatory to apply for this RFP?
24.2 Shall we submit the Due Diligence form with the
application?
24.3 Is there any short video on UEI that MS4G can share We shared a document/guideline on how to register
with us?
support, duration, the organization providing
support, etc. from the potential client to avoid
duplication of efforts or wastage of resources.
Specifically, BASPs should report to MS4G if the
MSMEs to be supported are getting support from
USAID Implementing Partners (IPs).
Applicants who are legally registered as per the
requirement of the Ethiopian government law are
eligible to apply. Applicants will be responsible for
paying any tax as per the law of the Ethiopian
government.
No, as indicated on the RFP, Due Diligence will be
required for selected offerors.
for UEI. There are several resources online including
this video. We will continue to support interested
applicants in all possible ways upon request through
email. But we strongly advise applicants to go and
register on SAM.gov